Chuck Hagel

It’s normal, I suppose, for conservatives to be sympathetic towards any public official who runs afoul of President Obama. But it’s abnormal to do a 180 degree turn about the merits of such an official. John McCain, though, has executed a full 180 with respect to Chuck Hagel. Today, McCain defended the ousted Secretary of Defense. In response to White House leaks that Hagel was performing poorly, stated, “Believe me, »

Good news. Chuck Hagel is out as Secretary of Defense, or will be as soon as a successor is nominated and confirmed. Let’s hope that any effort by the Republican Senate to block the confirmation of Obama administration appointees will exempt the Secretary of Defense position for national security reasons. The reason for Hagel’s ouster (let’s not take seriously the claim that he wanted out) is said to be that »

CNN reports that Chuck Hagel has asked his staff for detailed information about the U.S. military’s relationships with the National Football League in the wake of the controversy over how the league is handling domestic-abuse allegations against players. With the U.S. supposedly ramping for a war against ISIS, you would think that Hagel has better things to worry about. But politically correct posturing is always a priority for Team Obama. »

In his address to Marines in San Diego, Chuck Hagel described the threat posed by ISIS this way: The Iraqi people, the government of Iraq, country of Iraq is now under threat from some of the most brutal, barbaric forces we’ve ever seen in the world today, and a force, [ISIS], and others that is an ideology that’s connected to an army and it’s a force and a dimension that »

Chuck Hagel addressed a group of Marines in San Diego yesterday and afterwards tried to answer questions. One Marine asked: My question is that, given that the administration’s primary focus is on the Pacific theater, how has all of the issues popping up in the world today, Russia, Iraq, Africa, the rest of the theaters pretty much affected that current mission? And how do you foresee that affecting the mission »

Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel appeared before the House Armed Services Committee this week to testify on the deal that resulted in the release of the Taliban Five in exchange for Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl. Steve Hayes reviews Hagel’s testimony in the Weekly Standard article “More unraveling.” Steve points out that Hagel retreated from previously asserted reasons advanced to support the deal. Hagel presents as a walking case of dialectical argument »

Secretary of Defense Hagel appeared on Meet the Press from Afghanistan this morning for an interview by MTP host David Gregory. The nullity involved in pairing a member of Obama’s Team of Nitwits with Gregory for an interview is chilling. Gregory asked Hagel if the swap of five Taliban detainees held at Guantanamo for Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl represented negotiation with terrorists. Hagel responded (the transcription here is mine): “We »

Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon has walked back his harsh statements about the Obama administration’s foreign policy. Ya’alon had declared that Israel cannot rely on the U.S. to thwart Iran’s nuclear program, accused the administration of broadcasting weakness throughout the world, and warned that its perceived weakness was inviting further terrorism against U.S. targets. Ya’alon told his U.S. counterpart Chuck Hagel that his comments “were not intended to express opposition, »

Earlier this year, John Kerry and Chuck Hagel took over the top jobs at the Department of State and the Department of Defense, respectively. Since then, Kerry has been hyper-active. But whatever happened to Hagel? He has impinged on our consciousness only once, as Kerry’s sidekick during congressional hearings on authorizing an attack on Syria. The impingement was slight. Kerry and Gen. Dempsey did almost all of the talking. Hagel »

Chuck Hagel said today that the United States doesn’t need permission from the United Nations or any other international body to strike Syria in response to its use of chemical weapons against civilians. I agree with Hagel, though I don’t quite follow his reasoning. Reportedly, Hagel explained: “No nation, no group of nations is bound by only one dimension of whether they’d make a decision to respond to any self-defense »

I wrote here about an incident that occurred when Secretary of Defense Hagel spoke at the University of Nebraska. After his prepared remarks, when calling on a questioner, Hagel said, “you’re not a member of the Taliban, are you?” Robin Gandhi, an assistant professor who is of Indian national origin, then asked a question. Hagel’s camp claims, however, that Prof. Gandhi was not the target of the Secretary’s Taliban joke. »

Chuck Hagel returned to his alma mater, the University of Nebraska, to deliver a speech on the challenges facing the Defense Department (excluding the challenge posed by the fact that he’s in charge of it). After his address, it was time for questions. Hagel called on an audience member with brown skin. Before fielding his question, Hagel joked “you’re not a member of the Taliban, are you?” The questioner turned »

The Washington Post reports that Secretary of Defense Hagel is taking his “charm offensive” to Israel. At first blush, this seems like a difficult task. Most of the few people Hagel has ever been able to charm (the Steve Clemons’ of the world and, to be fair, apparently Barack Obama) seem to have been won over in part by his anti-Israel barbs. But we shouldn’t forget about handwritten thank-you notes. »

Chuck Hagel’s testimony during his Senate confirmation hearing consisted of one misadventure after another. For example, he described the Iranian regime as “legitmate” and characterized American’s policy toward Iran as “containment.” In both cases, he likely was reflecting the real view and actual policy of the Obama administration. But he wasn’t supposed to let the cat out of the bag. He thus embarrassed both Team Obama and himself. One might »

Andy McCarthy asks two good questions about the Republican “folderoo” on Chuck Hagel: I have a question for Senator John McCain, leader of the pack that says Hagel is “not qualified” to be defense secretary but that nonetheless voted in a way that assured his confirmation. McCain opposes the sequester because, he argues, the cuts to the defense budget are “unconscionable.” So . . . how can it be unconscionable »

As expected, the Senate has confirmed Chuck Hagel as Secretary of Defense. The confirmation occurred through two votes. First, the Senate voted by 71-27 in favor of cloture. This ended “debate” and meant that Hagel would get an “up-or-down” vote. In that vote, Hagel was confirmed by a margin of 58-41. 18 Republican Senators voted to end cloture. They are: Alexander (Tenn.), Ayotte (N.H), Blunt (Mo.), Burr (N.C.), Chambliss (Ga.), »

Louis Farrakhan, the rabidly anti-Israel, anti-Semitic leader of the Nation of Islam, is full of praise for Chuck Hagel. Farrakhan delivered his praise yesterday during a speech in Chicago. According to Betsy Woodruff at NRO, Farrakhan began by arguing that the media is controlled by Jewish interests. He then praised Hagel for, among other things, standing up to the “Jewish lobby.” And he complained that Hagel is “in trouble” as »